International Space Station Tracking
Written by Tega Jessa
Picture of ISS taken in July 2007
An interesting activity for the space enthusiasts is to try and find the International Space Station. You might wonder how you go about doing this. First off, it is orbiting the earth at high velocities. So unless you know exactly when and where it will appear it can tricky to find. The good news is that it can be easily seen. This is due to the fact that the International Space Station is the largest satellite in existence and the reflective solar panels make it one of the brightest objects in the night sky. Here are some tips to help you find the International Space Station in the night sky in your area.
First know what to expect. As I said before, the International Space Station will be moving very fast. To the observer it will look something like a slightly slower shooting star. It will be visible to the naked eye for about 4 minutes or 240 seconds depending on how you are keeping time.
The most important thing to know is where to look. In general the space station moves from west to east looking like it is rising from the horizon. It's orbit varies so it never follows exactly the same path. A good way to find out where it will pass by in the near future is to go to the NASA website it has a site that will give you both visual and text data on the exact celestial coordinates.
You of course can only see the space station at certain times. The best times to see it is when it is catching the light of Sun. This is what makes it visible. The best times to see it will be just before or after sunrise and sunset. This is also good advice if you want to find other artificial satellites
One last piece of advice don't try to see it through a telescope. You will be more likely to miss it so just stick with eyeballing it. You can however take pictures of it.
If you want to take a picture of the space station as it traverses the sky make sure to do the following. Once again make sure you know exactly when it is going to appear. You will get just one opportunity per orbit to catch it. Make sure to try to catch it in the morning and the evening to hedge your chances of getting a picture. It is also a good idea to have a watch keyed to NASA time down to the second so you can properly time the shutter of your camera.
Click here to access the NASA ISS Tracking website, and to find out times when the station will pass over your part of the Earth.
If you enjoyed this article there are others on Universe Today that you will enjoy. There is a great article about the space station actually being visible during the day. There is also an interesting article about the actual decommission date of the Space Station.
There were also some great website that provide useful tips. The first was the the Family Education website which had an article on space station watching. The NASA website is the final authority for information when trying to find out where and when the space station will appear. It also has great viewing tips.
You can also listen to astronomy cast. Episode 127 Space Shuttle is a pretty interesting episode.
Filed under: Astronomy
Tags: international space station, spaceflight
